Academic Staff
Dr David Fletcher
BEng, PhD
Dr Fletcher’s research interests are in engineering design and performance of materials under extreme loading. He is a graduate of Leeds University and was awarded a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sheffield. Dr Fletcher has collaborated with the Japanese Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), Tokyo, on modelling crack growth in rail steel, and has conduced research on EU and industrially funded projects with partners including Corus, DeltaRail, Tubelines and the Rail Safety and Standards Board. EPSRC funded research includes the area of Resilient Design, developing approaches to the design of crowded places that may be subject to terrorist attack. Research prizes have included the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Tribology Trust, Tribology Bronze Medal, 2000, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Railway Division, TA Steward-Dyer / F H Trevithick Prize, 2005, and a Best Paper prize at the World Congress on Railway Research, Korea, 2008.
Dr Roger Lewis
MEng, PhD, CEng, FIMechE
Roger Lewis became a lecturer in the Department in 2002 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2006. He graduated from the University of Sheffield in 1996 with an MEng in Mechanical Engineering and continued to work at Sheffield towards a PhD in the Tribology Research Group. He then had posts as a Research Associate and Teaching Fellow in the Department. In 2001 he was awarded the Tribology Trust Bronze Medal and in 2003 received a Brian Mercer Award for Innovation from the Royal Society. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He is currently a member of the IMechE Tribology Group and Railway Division Young Members committees.
Professor Rob Dwyer-Joyce
BSc, PhD, CEng, FIMechE
Rob Dwyer-Joyce is Professor of Lubrication Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He has a first degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College and a PhD in Tribology. After graduating he worked for British Gas in the Petroleum Production Division and offshore on the Rough gas field. Rob joined the Department in 1994; he manages the Tribology group that specialises in industrial wear and lubrication problems, and the development of metrology tools for tribology. Rob is a member of the IMechE Tribology Group, STLE, and a board member of The IMechE Journal of Tribology and Lubrication Science.
Dr Adam Beagles
BSc, MSc, PhD
Adam Beagles was appointed as a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering (Rail) in 2015. His first degree in 1981 was in Mathematics with Physics from Durham University. Following this he moved to Brunel University where he took an MSc in Numerical Analysis, was awarded a PhD for work in theoretical finite element analysis and undertook post-doctoral work on fracture mechanics. Adam’s research interests are mainly in the applications of probabilistic fracture mechanics and extracting useful information from real-world and test data. The rail industry always wants to reduce its carbon footprint and energy use and Adam’s research aims to address these areas by reducing unnecessary maintenance and expensive testing. Adam is the Faculty Advisor for the University’s Railway Challenge team.